Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Masonic Scottish Rite Rose Croix Most Wise Master Jewel Owned by Winslow Lewis
ca. 1863
Maker not marked
Place made not marked
Silver-colored metal, glass
Overall: 3-3/4"h (with ring) x 2-1/2"w x 1/4"d
Museum Purchase
2020.028

Masonic Scottish Rite Rose Croix Most Wise Master Jewel Owned by Winslow Lewis. Compasses with crown at top with 7 green paste (cut glass) stones, suspension ring at top. Within compasses with arc at bottom, cross with red stones at center, pelican feeding seven chicks, each with red stone head and white stone body, two swords with clear stones, two branches with green stones. Jewel covered with clear stones, crown and compasses joined by hinge. Engraved in script on reverse of arc "Winslow Lewis".

This jewel, in the form of a compasses and arc topped with a crown containing a cross and a pelican feeding her chicks was likely presented to Winslow Lewis (1799-1875) when he served as the Most Wise Master of Mount Olivet Chapter of Rose Croix in Boston in 1863. Lewis’s jewel is made of metal set with cut glass stones in white, green and red. These stones are imitation gems cut from lead glass that is soft, refracts light and can be produced in different colors. The jewel, almost 4 inches high, features a symbol, the pelican in her piety, used in the 18th degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry. The pelican, as depicted on this jewel, feeds her chicks with blood drawn from a wound in her chest, representing self-sacrifice, charity, and resurrection. On this jewel, the head of the pelican and the chicks are formed from red stones, echoing the color of the blood. At the center of the cross is a group of red stones set in a circle that symbolize a rose. Trained as a physician, Lewis was a surgeon and anatomist who taught more than 400 private medical students and was associated with the Massachusetts General Hospital. He wrote and translated several book about anatomy. Lewis lived, as one author described, “a Masonic life of greatest activity and usefulness, extending over more than thirty years.” He first received his degrees at Columbian Lodge in Boston in 1830 and 1831, and, soon after, took the York and Scottish Rite degrees. Twenty-four years after he was raised at Columbian Lodge, he served as the Grand Master of Massachusetts for two years. He held the office again in 1860. During the time that he received this jewel, he was also the Grand Secretary General for the Supreme Council. Lewis’s jewel is a striking artifact and reminder of the Masonic career of a man who declared that, “…in Masonry, I have found the best friends, the best social ties and comforts….” For further information, see blog post, November 17, 2020, https://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/2020/11/new-to-the-collection-scottish-rite-jewel-owned-by-winslow-lewis.html